UPDATE: Rudy Gay is out for Memphis tonight. And despite being listed as “doubtful” Serge Ibaka is playing through a rib injury.

The Grizzlies are back in town just a couple weeks after coming to Oklahoma City. The season series is tied at 1-1 and no matter what, these two teams always seem to play a pretty good game. Part of it is because Rudy Gay and Kevin Durant are both terrific players and they guard each other. Another is because Memphis has a big edge inside against OKC which makes up for Durant and Russell Westbrook.

Memphis coming in: The Grizzlies continue their climb toward the eight-seed in the West, coming in winners in seven of their last 10. They’ve lost two straight though and played last night against the Lakers.

THE MATCHUPS
The Thunder’s already been dealt a major blow coming in and that’s Serge Ibaka being out for this game. Because of that, Nick Collison will see bigger minutes on Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol, but who steps up to fill extra minutes behind Nenad Krstic? Could Cole Aldrich finally see some meaningful minutes? I bet Scott Brooks goes with D.J. White instead, but there’s at least an opportunity here.

Again, Rudy Gay versus Kevin Durant is always fun. But this game has a big matchup in Mike Conley and Russell Westbrook. Conley is capable of good games and if he’s able to pull that out tonight against Westbrook, OKC will have a tough time.

The game will eventually be decided by how well the Thunder can combat the Grizzlies down low. Jeff Green needs to play big, especially with Ibaka out. And Durant needs to keep hitting the glass in a big way. Games like this is where role players seem to step up big so Tony Allen and James Harden will likely play key parts.

The Thunder’s streaking a bit and with the Grizzlies at home coming off a game the night before, OKC should have the clear upper hand. But Memphis never goes quietly and with the Thunder shorthanded, it should be a grind.

Thunder S :Seriously, those hating on Westbrook id like to see what you would do in this situation. Kevin Durant cant get off a screen cuz of good defense or a bad screen. Now westbrook has the option of givin it to durant wayy out on the perimeter, where he will either take a bad shot or might turn the ball over if he dribbles too much.Then RW can give it to green (what is he going to do?) , thabo (what will he do?), kristic (cmon), or he takes it himself. If they clog the lane, literally the only option is for Russ to shoot hte midrange. You can blame coaching for not running better sets, but in that situation, which happens a lot, what do you expect Russ to do when u say he should pass more? If he passes, its going to come back to him…no one else can create their own shot…

How about starting to move the ball more first... Everybody knows that he's gonna have the ball for about 12 sec to 15 sec or so before he start searching the floor. Dribbling around is not the best or fastest way to create space and movement. If the ball do come back to him then shot it, no problem. But, the problem is he just do everything himself and everybody just stop moving. It's no different than KD's ISO play. Now the other teams are sending more helps on RW so somebody will be open (now I agree that Brooks should put someone more useful out there to be ready for the shot). But, if he can slow himself down a bit and see the game better then it will help even more.At the end, I still don't think it's RW's fault though.

@justinProbably not after tonight lol... but I'm not opposed to throwing in the coach, some refreshments, maybe a little barbecue.... and lots of beer to try... after all this is the NBA where teams draft PG's with back to back picks, where star players get in moped accidents and lie about it, where individuals get suspended for 10 games for "drinking energy drinks", where someone can punch someone in the groin and not get suspended while others get T'd up for shaking their head... oh and did I mention Eddy Curry, Michael Redd, Yao Ming, Gilbert Arenas, Kirilenko, Vince Carter, Kenyon Martin, and Peja are all among the top 20 highest paid players this year...

@Thunder SIt starts with the "Coaches" play. If it doesn't work RW, instead of calling a different play, takes it upon himself to be "THe Man"... That's not the way a PG, a true PG, is suppose to think. He needs to think about the team, not about winning.

I'd just like to point back to my earlier comments today about Green, some picks, and one of the young centers and whatever for Hibbert (who played a pretty nice game today)... just saying people said that would be giving up a whole lot, even though we'd still have Westbrook/Maynor, Harden/Thabo, Durant/???, Ibaka/Collison, Hibbert/Kristic or Aldridge or Mullens whoever is left... and we'd still probably have enough to get some other pieces to come in like a vet post player or shooter that some team no longer wants to pay.

Seriously, those hating on Westbrook id like to see what you would do in this situation. Kevin Durant cant get off a screen cuz of good defense or a bad screen. Now westbrook has the option of givin it to durant wayy out on the perimeter, where he will either take a bad shot or might turn the ball over if he dribbles too much.

Then RW can give it to green (what is he going to do?) , thabo (what will he do?), kristic (cmon), or he takes it himself. If they clog the lane, literally the only option is for Russ to shoot hte midrange. You can blame coaching for not running better sets, but in that situation, which happens a lot, what do you expect Russ to do when u say he should pass more? If he passes, its going to come back to him...no one else can create their own shot...

GB :After three years of going to almost every game here in town. Leaving early maybe twice in all that time. We left at the end of regulation – not staying for overtime, too damn disgusted with the play of the game. Presti sat with his phone in his hand most of the four quarter texting away. He didn’t even look up when we had a crucial free throw near the end. aaarrrgggh

Time for sleep. No snow yet in Yukon, OK. We'll see what it looks like in morning. Probably won't hit the gym and will sleep in .... just in case. : )

Be well my Thunder friends. Gotta wake up my wife and get her off the couch. Her being pregnant means she's asleep by 830 every night, so I can leave it on the Thunder game and not flip back and forth to other crappy tv shows. So ... pregnancy is good.

@okc babyat least Brooks is kinda, kinda, learning something. But he is a freakin' rock. He just can't be moved!!! Why doesn't he see that Green works better with Collison and KD works better with Ibaka. Plain simple.

After three years of going to almost every game here in town. Leaving early maybe twice in all that time. We left at the end of regulation - not staying for overtime, too damn disgusted with the play of the game. Presti sat with his phone in his hand most of the four quarter texting away. He didn't even look up when we had a crucial free throw near the end. aaarrrgggh

@JJJWestbrook got to the rim with ease during the game. Then decided to start shooting contested jump shots in clutch time. Hero mode. He does it alot. He gets to flustered and out of control when under pressure. Misses FT

justin :@okc babyEven if you don’t break up the starting lineup, there’s no reason you can’t get Harden into the game at SG down the stretch. The lengths to which Brooks will go to get Jeff Green minutes is just unreal. The guy played the entire fourth quarter and overtime. Harden didn’t see the court for the final 12 minutes. So we went 12 minutes with Jeff Green at shooting guard.The worst part of it, is that Jeff Green can play terribly, and he will not come out. Green has to commit murder on the court to be taken out of the game. For a guy whose presence in the game almost always causes mismatches for the other team’s offense.. what’s the deal?You can’t really blame Jeff Green (well, you can, because he just played awful tonight), but Brooks has to seriously re-evaluate his lineup preferences and his short leashes / long leashes on some of his players.

I think you make a great point on leashes. JG gets minutes no matter what. That's star treatment. Only KD has earned the right to get minutes no matter what. Brooks has even been known pull RW when RW gets sloppy. JG gets star treatment from Brooks. And as much as I appreciate Brooks, I just cannot explain that.

Nenad needs to start acting like the one at Turkey, this Nenad doesn't even shove in the post or even block out. Green is, and always will be over matched in the 4. He's suppose to play stretch for and he can't even do that!! Oh, wow some clutch performances here and there. But that's it! Here and there, not all the time. He can't guard anyone, he needs to be benched to play his natural role as SF.

@okc babyHe was 6-9 near the end of the game. When he got creases, he capitalized, but Memphis sagged on him the whole game, and he made mistakes. If anything, it shows his deficiencies of running a team and learning how to get hockey assists instead of going for the stats.

What's pathetic is that this team hasn't improved one bit overall from last year. It's a testament to the awful coaching of Brooks, the lingering weaknesses of some of our players, and the exasperating snail-like pace of Sam Presti, who seems to think he's a genius by not doing anything.

I think Jeff Green is a great 3rd option. But he tends to disappear. Tonight he never appeared. I think Scott Brooks has to wake up and use Harden as the 3rd option when JG puts on his invisibility cloak.

But I don't blame JG individually this game. When your team has almost as many turnovers as KD has points, you are asking to get blown out of the building. The Thunder were lucky to be in this one.

@thelaughingmanNo I don't...though Nenad didn't have a bad game by any means. I just wish he would let his presence known more often and give hard fouls rather than let players score and pick up ticky tack fouls. Refs would respect him a lot more. Green was terrible, and I dunno if it was the injury or not, but Serge had a very subpar game.

Even if you don't break up the starting lineup, there's no reason you can't get Harden into the game at SG down the stretch. The lengths to which Brooks will go to get Jeff Green minutes is just unreal. The guy played the entire fourth quarter and overtime. Harden didn't see the court for the final 12 minutes. So we went 12 minutes with Jeff Green at shooting guard.

The worst part of it, is that Jeff Green can play terribly, and he will not come out. Green has to commit murder on the court to be taken out of the game. For a guy whose presence in the game almost always causes mismatches for the other team's offense.. what's the deal?

You can't really blame Jeff Green (well, you can, because he just played awful tonight), but Brooks has to seriously re-evaluate his lineup preferences and his short leashes / long leashes on some of his players.

lol some Grizz fans are acting like they just won the NBA Finals. Are we that legit? HELL NO!!! This game just showed why we're still a year or two, or maybe even just a roster move or two, from being ANYTHING. Any real elite team would have put this one away with the lead and D we we're havign in the 3rd. If it was the Spurs, or Celtics, Hell even the Heat, They would have put this game away long before the 4th.

I know that. No one ever says crap, Like Brooks is the worst coach in the world, RW is an idiot, KD is so un-clutch, etc. after showings like this. I know you all think it. I just let it all out on these boards instead of yelling at the TV.

@okc babyRuss didn't go into hero mode until 2 min left in regulation. He only had 9 shots until the end. You can't blame him for going into hero mode when your only consistent threat is Durant. Give credit to Memphis. They packed the paint, got physical with KD, and dared everyone else to beat us, and we didn't. Our coaches didn't adjust to the refs letting everything up top go and calling every post foul, and it cost us. Scotty said that practice yesterday was terrible, so our players get blame too. You could tell that they weren't as focused as last week.

Kevin Durant has a really nice turn around jumper in the post on the rare occasion when he goes down there and gets position. Why in the world can't we set that up when he is being guarded by a 6'5" shooting guard.

This team is so frustrating to watch sometimes. There is just so many easy things that the coaches could do to give us a better chance to win and they never do anything different. No adjustments ever.

Not to mention of course Jeff Green's team high 44 minutes with 7 points on 2-12 shooting and 4 turnovers... Utterly baffling.

@MastrMattYea, I actualy read an actical once that listed our front office as one of the few that had an entire advance staticstics department. That combind with what we see on a daily basis should convince Brooks that the starters just don't play well together. We now have a 1 1/2 sample size. WTF brooks and screw you Earl Watson you lost the game for us again.